Yoga Nidra: Leo

This Yoga Nidra session was inspired by the astrological sign of Leo. Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac, the fixed fire sign, and is ruled by the sun. Leo is the sign of extroversion, of being seen and on display, of love and the heart, passion, creativity, and performance. The visualisations in this practice have been inspired by these themes, including the exploration of opposites' passion/apathy and feeling seen/unseen. The practice is suitable for everyone, but those with a significant Leo placement in their chart may find it to be especially useful or inspiring.

Image by Annanncee Stock

Transcript

This Yoga Nidra practice has been inspired by the astrological sign of Leo.

Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac and is symbolised by the lion.

It's ruled by the sun and rules the fifth astrological house.

Leo is the sign of extraversion,

Of being seen and being the centre of attention.

It's the sign of love and the heart,

Of passion,

Courage,

Creativity and performance.

And the visualisations in this practice have been inspired by these themes.

The practice is suitable for everyone,

But those with a significant Leo placement in their chart may find it to be especially useful or inspiring.

So first of all,

Make sure that you're in a comfortable position for your practice.

Take anything you need to support your body,

Any cushions or blankets,

And do whatever you need to do to make your body as comfortable as you possibly can.

You might like to lie on your back in Shavasana,

But if you know that this isn't going to be comfortable for you to lie in for a long time,

Find another position that feels better for you.

You also have the option to do this practice sitting,

If lying down isn't going to be comfortable.

Ideally you want to make yourself so comfortable that you could completely forget that your body's even there as you practice.

But sometimes it happens that during the practice the need to move does arise,

So if you do find that you need to move at any time,

That's okay.

Just be mindful to move your body carefully,

Making sure not to disturb the other parts of your body that will be in a deep state of relaxation.

And now that you're comfortable,

Let's do some tension and release exercises to encourage the muscles to relax.

We'll begin at the feet.

Squeeze the toes towards the balls of the feet,

And engage the muscles in the feet.

Squeeze the foot muscles as tightly as you can,

And now let them relax.

Feel the feet relaxing.

Now the legs.

Engage the muscles in the legs,

The calf muscles,

The muscles around the knees,

The thighs.

Squeeze the leg muscles as tightly as you can,

And relax them.

Feel the leg muscles releasing.

Now the arms.

Engage the upper arms,

The lower arms.

Make the hands into fists and squeeze the fingers in tightly,

As tightly as you can,

And relax the arms.

Relax the hands.

Draw the shoulders up towards the ears.

Pull the shoulders as high up towards the ears as you can,

And relax the shoulders.

Relax the shoulder blades.

And now squeeze the face together.

Draw your eyes and your mouth towards your nose,

And squeeze your face in as tightly as you can,

And relax the face.

Now we'll do the whole of the body together.

Engage all of the muscles in the body.

The feet,

The legs,

The abdomen,

The arms and hands,

The shoulders,

The face.

Squeeze the muscles together as tightly as you can,

And relax them.

Feel the whole of the body releasing.

And again,

Engage all of the muscles in the body,

Squeezing everywhere tightly,

And release.

One more time,

Engage all of the muscles as tightly as you can,

Hold them,

And release completely.

Feel the whole of the body releasing.

Now take a long,

Deep breath in.

Breathe into your belly,

Up to your chest,

All the way up to your collarbones,

And exhale with a sigh.

Take two more deep breaths like this.

Inhale up to your collarbones,

And exhale with a sigh.

With each exhalation,

Feel your body relaxing even more deeply.

And now just listen to the sound of your breath as you naturally breathe in and out.

Listen to your quiet breath.

And now send your awareness outwards to any other sounds that you can hear.

Just notice any sounds that are present in your environment.

Without getting involved in them,

Just notice that the sounds are there.

And know that the sounds will not disturb you,

But will only help you to relax even more deeply.

And take a moment now to acknowledge this time that you have made for you,

And for your relaxation.

This time is 100% yours.

There's nothing else you need to be doing,

Nowhere else you need to be,

And no one else that needs to be involved in your practice.

This is your time for you,

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

You're free to follow my voice for as long as it's useful to you,

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

And if you fall asleep,

That just means that your body needs to sleep,

And is making the most of this time of deep rest.

So knowing that you can't get this wrong,

Welcome all of the benefits that this time of deep relaxation has for you,

And feel your body relaxing even more deeply.

Now,

Invite a feeling to arise of safety and well-being.

See yourself in a place or in a situation where you feel 100% safe,

Well and secure.

If you like,

You could remember a time when you felt safe and well.

Or if you prefer,

You could imagine somewhere that has everything you need to feel safe,

Well and secure.

See this place arising vividly around you,

And feel the feeling of safety intensifying inside your body.

This is your feeling that you can return to at any time if you need to.

Safety.

Security.

Absolute well-being.

Bring your awareness to your heart,

And rest the awareness at your heart centre.

Move deeply into the heart centre,

And take these next few moments to listen to your heart.

What is your heart's deepest desire?

What fills your heart with passion?

Observe what arises at your heart.

You may see an image or hear words.

You may feel a feeling,

Or you may just know.

There's no need to force anything to happen.

Simply feel into your heart,

And allow your heart's deepest desire to arise.

Now we will begin the rotation of consciousness around the body.

Bring your awareness to each body part as its name.

And if you like,

You can imagine a golden ray of sunlight shining onto that part of your body,

Illuminating your body with warm golden light.

We will begin at the eyebrow centre.

Bring the awareness to the eyebrow centre.

Warm golden sunlight illuminating the eyebrow centre.

And the space between the collarbones.

Warm sunlight illuminating the space between the collarbones.

And the right shoulder.

The right elbow.

The right wrist.

The right thumb.

Index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

And the little finger.

The right wrist.

The right elbow.

The right shoulder.

The space between the collarbones.

The left shoulder.

The left elbow.

The left wrist.

The left thumb.

Index finger.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Little finger.

The left wrist.

The left elbow.

The left shoulder.

The space between the collarbones.

The centre of the chest.

Warm golden sunlight illuminating the centre of the chest.

And 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.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

The right ankle.

The right knee.

The right hip.

The lower abdomen.

The left hip.

The left 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 centre of the chest.

The space between the collarbones.

The eyebrow centre.

The top of the head.

The eyebrow centre.

The space between the collarbones.

The centre of the chest.

Warm golden sunlight illuminating the centre of the chest.

Bring the awareness to the breath.

Observe the gentle movement of the chest as the breath flows in and out.

Watch the chest gently expanding with the inhalation and contracting with the exhalation.

Now notice the movements that happen throughout the whole of the body with every breath.

Feel the breath moving into the skin.

Into the arms and legs.

Into the feet and toes.

Feel the breath moving into the whole of the body.

And feel it moving back out again.

Now feel the breath expanding outside of the body.

Each time you breathe in the breath expands outside of the body and into the room.

Each time you breathe out the breath flows back out again.

Feel the breath expanding out of the room.

With each inhalation feel the breath expanding further outwards.

Out into the world.

Out into space.

How far outwards can the breath expand with each inhalation?

And now invite the feeling of passion to arise in your body.

The feeling of passion.

If you like you can recall something you feel very passionate about.

Or simply allow the feeling of passion to arise by itself.

The feeling of passion.

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

Intensify the feeling.

The feeling of passion.

And now invite the feeling of apathy,

Of disinterest to arise.

You could recall something that makes you feel very disinterested.

Or allow the feeling to arise by itself.

The feeling of apathy,

Disinterest.

Intensify the feeling.

The feeling of apathy.

The feeling of apathy.

And now are you able to experience both of those together?

Are you able to feel the feelings of passion and apathy at the same time?

Can you experience the feelings that arise in your body with passion and with apathy together?

Can you feel passion and apathy together?

Passion and apathy together.

Now invite the feeling of being seen,

Of being very visible at the centre of attention.

What do you feel in your body with the feeling of being seen?

You might like to recall a time when you were at the centre of attention.

The feeling of being seen.

Intensify the feeling.

Welcome it.

The feeling of being seen.

And the feeling of being unseen.

Welcome the feeling of being unseen.

Of being invisible.

What do you feel in your body with the feeling of being unseen?

Intensify the feeling.

The feeling of being unseen.

The feeling of being unseen.

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

Can you feel visible and seen?

And invisible and unseen at the same time?

Are you able to feel seen and unseen together?

Visible and invisible together.

Now bring your awareness to the centre of the forehead.

Observe the centre of the forehead.

Witness anything that's happening at the centre of the forehead.

Observe any shapes,

Colours,

Patterns or darkness.

Without getting involved,

Simply observe what's there.

We will now begin the rapid visualisation of images.

Allow an impression to arise of each one as it's named.

There's no need to force it.

Allow each one to arise naturally by itself.

You may see an image or you may feel a feeling or experience a very subtle impression.

Observe whatever comes.

We'll begin with the sun shining brightly in a clear blue sky.

A garden of colourful flowers.

A heart-shaped box of chocolates.

A lion.

A carnival.

A bunch of red roses.

The colour yellow.

Dancers in the street.

An artist painting a beautiful picture.

A mine.

A marching band.

A person on one knee proposing to their partner.

The colour red.

Green trees blossoming in the summertime.

The shape of a heart drawn in the sand on a hot summer's day.

See yourself standing inside a room in front of a plain white wall.

Inside the room are tins of paint of every colour and brushes of every size.

Paint the wall.

Set yourself free to paint the wall in any way that you like.

Embrace your creativity.

Without thinking about it,

Watch your creation appear on the wall.

Observe the colours,

Patterns and pictures that appear.

See yourself walking along a stone pathway on a cliff top.

The summer sun shines down upon you.

And to the side of the cliff,

Rays of sunlight glisten upon the calm blue sea.

The pathway slowly winds downwards along the cliffside.

You turn a corner and find yourself standing in front of a large outdoor theatre.

The sunlight shines down onto a huge stone stage which looks out over the water.

You step up onto the stage and feel the warm sunlight illuminating your body.

And on the stage,

You set yourself free.

Free to create.

Free to perform.

Your heart leads the way as you surrender into pure,

Unlimited expression.

Bring your awareness back to the heart centre.

Send your awareness deep into your heart and welcome the desire of your heart as it arises once again.

Feel the passion of your heart as you welcome your heart's deepest desire.

And welcome again the feeling of absolute safety and wellbeing.

Feel the feeling of safety arising inside your body.

Feel it vividly.

Absolute safety,

Security and wellbeing.

This is your feeling that you have cultivated by yourself.

And that you can return to at any time that you need it.

In your practice,

At home,

At work,

At home.

And in your life.

Safety,

Security,

Absolute wellbeing.

Now slowly begin to turn your awareness back outwards.

Notice any sounds that you can hear in the room around you.

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

Just observe that the sounds are there.

And now feel the feeling of your body resting against the surface beneath you.

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

How vividly can you remember the colours of the room that you're in?

Can you picture the walls?

The ceiling?

The floor?

All of the different objects and furniture?

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

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

With your wrists and your ankles.

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

When you are ready,

Slowly open your eyes.

When you are ready,

Slowly open your eyes.

This practice of Yoga Nidra is now complete.

Thank you for listening.

Reviews

With much thanks and gratitude Jessica. Another spectacular nidra. It is wonderful bringing in the Leo ♌️ qualities into our meditation. I just love the astrological path you are giving to us 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻