Welcome to Yoga Nidra for the full moon.
This practice guides your awareness into a space between waking and sleeping where you can nourish and rejuvenate your mind.
Take a moment to rest your body in a supported sleep position on the floor with your palms turned toward the night sky.
Close your eyes and soften the space between your eyebrows,
Allowing the sights and sounds of the world to fade away.
In tonight's practice,
We'll meditate on the healing waters of the moon,
Known as Soma.
Soma comes from the Cosmic Feminine Principle and is the nectar of grace that flows through all life.
Soma is the beauty of the moon and the light that shines in the darkness.
Sensing now into the fluid movement of your breath through your nose.
Becoming the coolness of the breath as it moves in.
And the warmth of the breath as it passes over the top of your lip.
Senses of coolness and warmth becoming one sensation of breath.
One sensation of breath flowing effortlessly from navel center to chest and back again.
Being your spine soften and sink into the ground,
Perfectly aligned with your head and pelvis.
Your whole body heavy and relaxed.
Take a breath in and exhale through your mouth.
Fully present in your body.
In the light of the moon above the crown of your head,
Feeling the coolness of the light soak into your skin and bathe your whole body.
In the yoga tradition,
The crown chakra is the temple of Chandra,
The shining moon.
Soma flows from the moon in a thousand streams of light,
Watering the lotus of your awareness.
With each breath,
Sense the light of the moon flowing into the crown of your head like cool drops of water.
Your awareness spreading from the crown of your head to your temples.
The right temple,
Left temple,
Both temples together.
Feeling the space at the center of your forehead soft and open to the night sky.
In the folds of skin around your eyes,
Right eyelid,
Left eyelid,
Both eyes bathed in the light of the full moon,
Awakening your inner sight.
Right bathes,
Your ears,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Both ears together.
The shining light of the moon through the right nostril,
Left nostril,
Moonlight through both nostrils.
Many part your lips and relax your tongue.
Your awareness at the tip of your tongue,
Root of your tongue,
Sensing cool drops of light at the center of your throat.
A waterfall of sensation flowing from the crown of your head into your throat and from your throat into your heart space.
Your breath softening at the center of your chest,
Massaging the heart and the upper lobes of your lungs.
Allowing all the worries of your mind to wash away in this moment of grace.
Sensing your awareness in the space of your heart,
Into the heart of your heart.
Repeating silently to yourself,
I am nourished in my body,
I am nourished in my heart,
I am nourished in my spirit.
Repeat this three times,
Allowing yourself to receive the truth of these words,
Planting the seed of your sankalpa.
Sensing your awareness,
Move now from the heart space to the innermost core of your shoulders.
Within the shoulders and upper arm bones,
Elbows,
Forearms,
Wrists,
The palms of your hands shining with moonlight,
Sensation spreading into your fingertips.
Connect your breath to your fingertips and inhale all the way up your arms to your shoulders.
And like a waterfall of sensation,
Exhale from the shoulders all the way down to your fingertips.
Inhale from the fingers to the shoulders.
Exhale from the shoulders to your fingertips.
Bathing your arms with the light of the moon.
Continue to breathe your awareness flowing with the river of your breath.
Return your awareness to your chest,
Breathing deeply into the right side of your rib cage.
The left side of your rib cage,
Deep into the center of your solar plexus.
Your awareness flowing from the upper abdomen to your navel center,
Softening into the rise and fall of your breath at your navel center.
Breathe through your navel center as though with each breath you are drinking in the beauty of the moon.
Drinking in soma,
The waters of the moon nourish and rejuvenate the subtle fluids of your body flowing down into the root of your pelvis.
Your pelvic bowl filling with awareness and light.
Feel your awareness spread into the innermost core of your hips,
Upper leg bones,
Knees,
Shin bones,
And ankles.
The soles of your feet shining with moonlight.
Feel your breath at the tips of your toes.
Inhale all the way up your legs to your hips in one flow of attention.
Inhale from your hips all the way down to your toes.
Inhale from the tips of your toes to your hips.
Inhale from your hips to your toes,
Nourishing your legs with the waters of the moon.
Inhale from your hips to your toes,
Nourishing your legs with the waters of the moon.
Feel your awareness open into the wide river of your breath.
And as your breath moves from the tips of your toes,
Draw it all the way up to the crown of your head.
And exhale from the crown of your head all the way down to the tips of your toes.
Inhale from the toes to the crown,
Your breath rising like a wave of energy.
Inhale from the crown to the toes,
Releasing tension and stress.
Your whole body immersed in the waves of your breath.
On the inhale,
Feel the energy rise to its fullness.
On the exhale,
Feel the energy empty into a space of stillness.
Your mind at rest within the stillness,
At rest in the waters of the moon.
The flow of grace moving through you like a thousand flowing rivers of light.
A thousand flowing rivers opening your awareness into the vastness of the night sky.
Your awareness rising beyond the body,
Beyond the mind,
Like a lotus flower opening to the light.
Soma is the hand of the Divine Mother who washes away the suffering in our minds and hearts.
She guides us into the wisdom of stillness where innermost being resides.
Gather your complete concentration at your eyebrow center,
Gathering your awareness at the eyebrow center,
And maintain your concentration in one potent point of light.
The medicine of Soma secretes like a nectar from the pineal gland in deep states of meditation,
Like a pure drop of awareness that awakens the space of the heart.
Focusing in at your eyebrow center,
The smooth surface of a lake,
The smooth and calm surface of a lake.
Above the lake,
A luminous full moon resting at the back of your mind.
Use the shining energy of the moon and its healing rings of light,
Rings of healing light filling the deepest spaces of your mind.
Rings of light shimmering across the waters of the lake,
Reflecting your mind back to you.
See your reflection in the smooth surface of the lake.
Rings of light become rings of sound,
Rings of sound and vibration.
The sound and vibration of the mantra Om.
Om Shanti.
Rest your mind in the silence within the sound.
Silence allows you to enter the space of the heart,
The space of the unstruck sound.
Your awareness like a pure drop of water.
Pure drop of your awareness deep within the space of the heart.
Noma is the oil that nourishes the flame of the heart.
That's the brilliant flame of your awareness shining brightly.
Hear joy,
Peace,
Bliss penetrating the space of your body,
Mind and heart.
Joy.
Peace.
Peace.
Bliss.
Sunsane.
The light within the darkness that continues to shine.
Feel your awareness shining from within.
Say silently to yourself,
I am nourished in my body.
I am nourished in my heart.
I am nourished in my spirit.
Repeat this three times,
Receiving the truth of your sankalpa.
Om Shanti.
Om Shanti.
Slowly returning to your breath.
And through the pathways of your breath,
Returning to your body,
Your body lying on the earth.
Finding small movements through your fingers and your toes.
And when you're ready,
Opening your eyes.
Thank you for spending this time in meditation with me.
Namaste.
